Bitcoin's 44% gain in third quarter teases full-blown crypto bull run

Bitcoin surged about 44% in the third quarter, marking its strongest quarterly gain since the final three months of 2024 and pushing the cryptocurrency above $84,000. The advance carried bitcoin beyond the May resistance level and into its highest point since January, a move CoinDesk notes could confirm a breakout if it is sustained. Despite the rally, bitcoin remains roughly 48% below last October’s record high of $126,000. Altcoins also participated in the upswing: Ethereum, XRP, Solana, Uniswap and Near recorded gains ranging from about 40% to 150% during the period. The broader market shift has left traditional assets behind; gold rose about 8.7% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained roughly 2% over the same stretch, according to TradingView. Traders and analysts attribute the initial leg higher to technical dynamics, including oversold conditions and a short squeeze, which attracted bargain hunting. More recently, market participants have pointed to regulatory developments as an added tailwind. Tagus Capital highlighted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Sept. 17 decision to grant a temporary five-year innovation exemption enabling certain venues to facilitate secondary trading of tokenized U.S. stocks via automated market makers and blockchain liquidity pools. Some firms expect the regulatory opening to favor Ethereum, which they say is the leading public blockchain for tokenized assets. While a number of analysts are describing current price action as consistent with an emerging bull market, they advise caution; FxPro’s chief market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said the environment can include abrupt pullbacks and urged investors to look for clearer signals of sustained growth before concluding a robust market transition has occurred.